-Semblance of Brotherhood-

Chapter 6: Misplaced Anger

If she were being completely honest with herself, Blake didn't know exactly what to make of Silva Taro. He was… odd? No, that didn't quite fit.

On the outside, he seemed like a no-nonsense guy that didn't bother worrying about the consequences of doing what he saw as right. If he saw a problem, he just fixed it. No petty dramatic bullshit, he cut right to the heart of the matter and ripped it out. Normally, that sort of mentality would be worrying. It meant that if he ever got it in his head to do something bad, he wouldn't be talked out of it. Yet, she still got the impression that he was someone who's moral compass, while skewed and unpredictable, generally stayed in the right place. He genuinely meant well.

Even if reaching 'well' meant getting his hands dirty.

Of course, she wasn't just going to ignore his word and assume the worst of him. That wouldn't have been fair. Instead, she decided to hold onto a grain of salt when he told her how his clothes had gotten soaked in Human blood. Granted, no man held enough blood in his body to soak Silva's clothes and not die from blood-loss, but he looked pretty damn shaken up, so she'd let it slide.

He had that air about him, a certain constant alertness that she knew all too well. You didn't get shaken up by seeing some blood with that kind of paranoia. If her intuition was to be trusted at all, he'd seen more than his fair share of blood long before he came to Beacon.

Yang may have shrugged off that instance with Ruby right before Initiation, but Blake knew better. That poor girl had been a single misjudgement away from dying right then and there. Silva wasn't just a fighter, he was a killer. No average Huntsman in training was taught how to use sudden respiratory-deprivation to short out a person's Aura. That was something you would only ever learn and internalize if you were expecting to murder someone. They taught it to White Fang members as soon as they started training, so that they at least had some chance when a Huntsman entered the fray.

And that had been Silva's first instinct. Even being a Huntsmen himself, he'd had every intention of killing Ruby until he realised who she was.

Ah, and here I am assuming the worst again.

It was this train of thought that had led to her offering him a spot at her Team's table. Him being a Faunus had just as much to do with it, but he didn't need to know that. Was it so wrong to want someone around her who actually understood what being Faunus was like? She didn't hold it against her sibling Teammates, but as much as the two seemed to feel bad for their kind, they just didn't get it.

Weiss? Pff. She barely even understood who the White Fang were.

Silva, on the other hand, had no delusions of idealism. He'd beaten his entire Team yesterday, and within the same day did so again the instant they tried to pick on another Faunus.

He could have been a bit less of a dick to that girl, but at least he did something. It was more than she'd expected anyone to do.

He reminded her of Adam, before he changed.

"Why do you hide?" The abrupt question completely shattered her train of thought. She glanced over to Silva with wide eyes, before she noticed something about the way he'd said it. It had been less than a whisper, something very specifically meant for advanced Faunus hearing to pick up on. He was asking while also ensuring that no one would notice but her. Well, I guess someone was bound to call it out eventually. At least he had the respect to not blurt it out. She couldn't exactly blame him for wanting to ask, she'd be confused by it too. Already she'd seen a couple other Faunus giving her sideways glances, but none dared to call her out on it.

"I…" At the same time, she didn't know how to answer. Or rather, she didn't want to admit the real answer out loud. At first it had just been the desire to escape prejudice. Literally all it was. It wasn't until she'd ended up on a team with Weiss Schnee of all people that her bow became extremely important to their Team's integrity. If her heritage was exposed, it would lead to way more problems than Blake wanted to heap onto Ruby's shoulders. Poor kid already had her work cut out for her. "Well, I'm sort of on the same Team as Weiss Schnee. It would just make things complicated." She whispered in reply after a moment.

"Ah. That's… interesting. You realise that it won't last forever, right? Something will force it into the open eventually." She winced at the statement. He wasn't wrong. Life had a funny way of forcing you to eat your own shit.

"I know. I just…" She began to drift off, but Silva seemed to almost read her mind.

"Need time to sort yourself out?" She nodded, "I get that. Better to face things on your own terms if you can help it. I won't go and try to tell you how to handle your own business, it's not my place, but don't drag it on for too long. It'll only make things worse if they feel like you were lying to them." Again, she nodded. He has a point. Maybe I should just rip the bandaid off? Then again, this was coming from someone she'd just met not a couple of days ago, and only spoken to twice. It was so strange, he barely knew her and yet she got the feeling he was learning more about her by the second. His gaze was always so analytical, like he was constantly making a heavy effort to take in as much information as he possibly could. At times it almost felt like he was looking straight through people.

With Silva…

He hadn't expected Belladonna to be very willing to talk about her masked heritage, and it showed with how little she actually talked. A couple of nods, and the subject was dropped. Now he just felt like an asshole, digging his nose into other's issues.

This is why we don't talk to people, Taro. The fuck were you thinking? Despite the self-scolding, he reminded himself that even if she was a fucking Belladonna, he'd still made a promise to himself. I won't just sit in the background and leave her to sulk in her burdens. That inherently requires a bit of nosiness. Though even as he reassured himself, the image of Adam in the back of his mind pressed like an expanding balloon. He hated that. All he wanted was to be rid of him right now, this was supposed to be his time to unwind and go through the motions. Now everything he saw served to remind him of how he'd come to be here.

Though he didn't notice it in the moment, his left hand drifted up to the long, vicious scar that ran across his throat and the left of his jaw. Blake noticed, but didn't speak on it.

"Silva!" His attention was dragged back to reality as a familiar, high-pitched voice called his name. Ruby seemed extremely excited to see him, nearly tripping over her own feet as she shot up from their Team's table and rushed over him and Blake. "Where'd you go yesterday!? You were supposed to tell me how Regalis' blade is so white!" She demanded, bumping a light, angry fist against his chest. He couldn't help but crack a grin.

"Is that right? I don't remember these terms." He deadpanned, causing Ruby's eyes to bulge before a hint of a blush dusted her cheeks in embarrassment.

"I-I mean, yeah, I guess…" Her lively mood seemed to wilt, her shoulder visibly sagging.

"It's okay, Ruby, I was just messing with you. No need to get all bummed out." He quickly reassured her, before Ruby snapped a frustrated kick into his shin. "Ahg!" He grunted, a sharp, small pain stinging the place she'd hit.

"The hell was that for?"

"You're being mean!" She shot back.

"I told you already, I was joking!"

"Hmph!" She didn't buy it, turning away from him with crossed arms. It wasn't until Blake walked up to her, tapped her shoulder and whispered something into her ear that Ruby seemed blanch, turning back to face him with a mix of remorse and understanding on her face.

"Sorry! Blake told me what happened, I didn't reali-" He cut her off before she could start rambling in apology.

"I told you, it's okay. Sure, a little warning would've been nice, but it's not like I'm mad at you for being curious." How could he blame someone for being so enthralled by his most prized possession? His sword was a work of art, damn it!

"So… we're cool?" Ruby asked, still seeming a little uneasy. He just laughed a bit.

"Yeah, we're cool. As for my sword, well, I'm not too sure what kind of metal my dad used to make it. Apparently he was really hush-hush about the whole process." The explanation seemed to dull her enthusiasm a little, before her eyes lit up with a realization.

"Oh! Do you wanna find out!? The weapons workshop here has a guy who can test the material composition of different metals, we could run there during our free period after Lunch if that's okay?" The prospect was something he'd never really thought about. People made weird colored weapons all the time, even if it almost looked like Regalis' blade wasn't just painted that way. In fact, now that he thought about it, that sounded like a cool thing to figure out. Sure, it wasn't deciphering the message scrawled on the sheathe, but he definitely wanted to find out something about his sword if he had the chance.

"Sure. Sounds like it'd be interesting to look into." She pumped a fist in the air at his agreement.

"Awesome!" Blake tapped her shoulder again, subtly nodding to their table with a meaningful look. Ruby seemed to pick up on it, "Oh, right! Come on, let's go eat." Her mood seemed to level out at that, and she paced back over to the table with a satisfied smile.

He looked over to Blake, "I'm going to get my food, be back in a second." She nodded. Turning away, he fell into the line that had formed alongside the nearby wall.

He hadn't been in line for thirty seconds before he noticed Cardin making his way over.

Great. Now I get to deal with this shit. Letting out a huff, he turned to look up the boy.

"What, Winchester?" He asked, not quite snapping but holding a firm edge in his voice. He was not in the mood for their stupidity right now. Cardin glared down at him for a moment before he spoke.

"Nice to see you too, mutt." He shot back, Silva's eyes narrowing in a dangerous scowl. But, for some reason there wasn't the same bite to it. Like he didn't mean it as an insult, but more of an annoyed response to Silva's combative greeting. He let it slide, for now.

"Again, what do you want, Cardin?" He asked once more, his voice hardening as he gritted through his teeth.

"Russel and I want a rematch. No Semblances, just pure skill." Ah. Perhaps he should've expected that.

"And what of Lark?" He asked, causing Cardin to sneer.

"No idea. He fucked off and did his own thing after you left. Now are we doing this, or are you too much of bitch to fight without that fancy shadow-trick of yours?" Silva frowned.

"Not unless it's all three of you. You two by yourselves wouldn't be productive for the Team. No point in fighting unless you learn to do it as a unit, you are going to be working with each other for the next four years, at least." He was fine with just beating the three of them until they learned to work well together, though that likely wasn't what Cardin meant. But, it didn't change the end result. They would still become a better Team at the end of the day, and he'd be able to learn their styles so that he could quickly complement them during live combat.

They don't need to like me. As long as they maintain the drive to get stronger, no matter where it comes from, I'll give them something to beat themselves against to do it. The simple fact of the matter was that they were his Teammates. And he did not accept anything less than every ounce of effort from his subordinates.

Cardin just scowled at him. "Tch, fine. Be on the roof by dark." With that, he walked back over to Russel, who was sitting across the cafeteria glaring daggers at Silva.

So, they want to do this off the books? I guess that works. Means I can really let loose on them. A crowd had made it hard to point out their flaws the last time they fought, and doing so after that fact only served to sour their mood further. No, criticism was something best given in the moment, before they could form some sort of excuse for the mistake.

At least I'll have some to do after I have Regalis looked at.

Nothing else came up while he waited to get his breakfast. He nodded his thanks to the woman who handed it to him, and made his way back over to Team RWBY's table. When he sat down, Ruby seemed to be in the midst of telling some sort of story.

"And then Mrs. Goodwitch saved me! She made this weird shield thing around us, it was so cool! Then this lady started shooting fire at us from the Bullhead, but Mrs. Goodwitch did this crazy Semblance thing and turned it all into glass! They went back and forth for a while, but they got away before we could bring the Bullhead down!" She regaled, and he couldn't help but find himself both amused and curious.

"Sorry, I just got back. What were you talking about?" He asked, Ruby looking back at him with a wide smile.

"Oh, hey Silva! Weiss asked me how I got into Beacon early, so I was just telling her." She explained, but before he could ask for details the Schnee seemed to have something to say.

"As if any of that really happened, she must have gotten in on recommendation. There is no way a dunce like you nearly caught Roman Torchwick of all people! That man is as much of a menace to society as the entire White Fang put together!" Her voice grated on his ears like nothing he'd ever heard. Every minute nuance in her voice, each tiny little Atlesian elitist accent dredged up a toxic rage that he wanted so badly to embrace. Yang leveled a venomous glare at her, but Silva spoke before she could say anything.

"I don't think Ruby asked what you thought of the story, Schnee." He growled. He noticed Blake giving him a very cautious look from beside Yang. He'd very purposely positioned himself with Ruby separating he and the Schnee, but it seemed that he just couldn't help himself.

The bitch leaned forward to look down the table at him. He met her scowl with one of his own.

"What did you just say to me?" She snapped, and Silva felt the growing urge to grab hold of her neck and just squeeze when he heard the privileged whininess in her voice. He squashed it, though. I've done enough killing for one week.

"You asked her how she got into Beacon early, did you not?"

"Yes. And?" Oh gods, he was going to murder her. Why did he decide to sit here? He could have been sitting somewhere quiet and peaceful, enjoying his breakfast, but no. Instead he was here, talking to a member of the most evil family on Remnant.

"She told you what happened, and her sister hasn't corrected her in any way. Yang, is the story Ruby told the truth as you know it?" He looked over to her.

"Yeah." She spat, looking directly at the Schnee, instead of him. He turned back to the little she-devil.

"So seeing as Ruby doesn't have any benefit from lying, what do you get out of trying to make her feel worse while simultaneously undermining her efforts by suggesting that she didn't work to get where she is? Oh wait, forgive me, you Schnees must be very familiar with things being handed to you on a silver platter, right?" The look of hate and shock on her face was absolutely priceless. "Or are you just jealous because she's a natural Huntress, while you're merely a product of expensive tutors?" He honestly had no idea if Ruby was an effective fighter or not, but if she'd fought Roman and nearly caught him that had to mean something. That, and it gave him more ammo to use.

Ruby put her hand between them, clearly trying to stop them from fighting. As if he needed to see that bitch to tear her down. Before he could say any more, though, Ruby shot him a surprisingly authoritative scowl.

"Stop it! I don't want you two fighting because of me!" She demanded, but letting up was the last thing he had in mind. She deserves every word, and more.

"You don't even know me! You don't know what I had to go through to get here!" The Schnee whined.

Ugh, just shut the fuck up!

"What, did dear Daddy Schnee not want his little puppet to leave Atlas?" The way she flinched told him he hit a sweet spot there. Good.

"What is your problem with me!?" Again with that whiney, god, damned, voice.

"Oh, I don't know, how about everything your family stands for." He shot back, making very sure not to raise his voice. One shout and suddenly she'd go scurrying off to find a staff member to report him.

"My family has done nothing wrong!" Until she said that. He stared at her for a momemt, before his head tipped back, a thick cackle escaping his throat for several seconds. He leaned back into the table, staring her down with an aloof, sarcastic grin.

How fucking dare you!?

"So that's how we're playing the narrative, huh?" Again, a small snicker slipped from his chest. "Okay then, how about this? How many Faunus die working in SDC Dust Mines every single year?" He waited, but the girl only seemed to stammer, so he answered for her. His face twisted into a look that could only be described as pained fury. "Two fucking thousand! And that's just the god damned estimate! Your family has never done anything wrong? Tell that to my Mother, BITCH!" He shoved himself up to stand with his hand popped on the table, but before he could walk away himself a firm, thin hand took hold of his shoulder and jerked him back with enough force to override his balance.

The hand literally dragged him, shoes squeaking against the tile floor, all the way out of the cafeteria. He didn't look back at them, his eyes were fixated on the Schnee with so much rage boiling in his chest that it physically hurt. Once they had gone out of sight, the hand spun him around to an open palm that collided with his cheek in a slap that echoed through the empty hallway. His head snapped to the side as his Aura flashed with sheer force of it.

"What the fuck, SIlva!?" Blake half-shouted, arms wide in gesture and a look of concerned disbelief in her eyes. "I asked if you wanted to sit with us so you could relax, not treat Weiss like everything Jacques Schnee has ever done was her fault!"

For a moment he wanted to turn his ire on her. How dare she make out like… But that wasjust it, wasn't it? He'd acted, and talked, like he was in front of the Owner of the SDC. When, in reality, that girl probably didn't have a clue what her father had done to his kind. To his family. He forced himself to swallow the blind hatred that had taken root in his head, a long, shallow breath sliding past his lips as he quelled his own shaking.

"Look, I get that you're mad, I do, but Weiss doesn't have anything to do with that. She's just our age, Silva. She's probably never even been to a Dust Mine before." She spoke slowly, her voice gentle in hopes to help calm him down. He couldn't tell if that helped, or just made him feel more like shit. Or were those two things one in the same, right now?

"I…" He didn't know what to say. It wasn't like he had any sort of reasonable excuse, he'd just snapped over practically nothing. Just some kid saying their father was infallible, and sweet Oum did that sound pitiful when he thought about it objectively.

"You don't have to say anything, I just don't want you trying to tear someone apart that honestly doesn't deserve it. I get it, Silva, I still have a hard time talking to her sometimes, too. It's kind of hard when all you can see is that white hair." She stepped a little closer, "But I can say from how much I've been around her the last couple of days that she really does have good intentions. Even if her political views are a bit infuriating, she at least tries to be a decent person most of the time." She explained, careful with how she said her piece.

Gods, I've fucked up, haven't I? He'd acted like Adam would, in this situation. No. I can be better than that. I have to be better than that. His features sobered, eyes setting in determination.

"It won't happen again." He didn't need to ask for forgiveness from Blake, he'd done nothing wrong to her, but he owed her that promise, at the very least. He'd made a fool of himself, and of her.

"I'm glad to hear it. Just… um, maybe stay away from Weiss for today? I think you gave her a lot to process. I doubt anyone's ever shoved the truth in her face like that." She said, Silva nodding in agreement. "I won't ask you to apologize to her, but at least try to tolerate her in the future?"

"I can do that." He meant it both ways. Even if it felt like pulling teeth, he was going to let Weiss know how much he regretted his words. She had done nothing to deserve his anger, yet he'd treated her like garbage just because of his own problems.

"Thanks. I, uh… I'm sorry for dragging you into that. It was kind of stupid, now that I think about it. It's not like I didn't know how strongly you felt about racists. Pretty sure everyone saw you defending that girl yesterday." Her arms folded in on themselves, her head turning slightly off to the side as she spoke.

"Don't even think about blaming yourself for that, Blake. It was my inability to think maturely that led to this and nothing else, so don't let me hear you apologizing for literally doing nothing." Her eyes flicked back over to him, opening slightly.

"Oh. Okay, then. I guess everything's alright now?" She asked, and he laughed slightly out of sheer self-deprecation.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm going to take a walk before class starts, try and get my head on straight. Thanks for slapping some sense into me, I think I needed it." He really had. If she hadn't done that he might have just gotten more angry. His temper tended to lose itself once he went over the edge. She seemed to stiffen slightly at his words, a nearly unnoticeable red tint forming in her face. Looked like she didn't get thank-yous very often.

"Oh! Uh, i-it was nothing, don't worry about it." She managed to stop herself from stuttering, "And okay, I'll let Ruby and Yang know you're alright." He gave her a grateful nod before stepping past her, turning his head back as he walked away. He held up a hand in a lazy wave goodbye.

"I'll see you later, Blake." She returned the wave, even if her hand barely moved up at all.

"Yeah. See you later." Came her reply, Silva looking away from her and rounding a corner in the hallway that led to the school's courtyard.

Why can't I just have a normal day for once?

Somehow, he felt like that wouldn't happen anytime soon.

Hello again! God, I just can't stoo writing this story. I'm so eager to get to the really juicy parts, it's hard to take the time and fill in as mucn detail as I can while making the characters as real as I can.

So, for those who are confused, when I say the next few chapter are going to calm down a bit, I mean in terms of life-or-death stakes. There will still be plenty of stuff going on, just not quite as heavy as last chapter. I want a break from putting Silva through that kind of hell.

I'll see you guys next chapter, don't forget to RR if you find the care to. Every review helps.

Buh-Bye!!!